The Youkai King

V

“Wow~ I didn’t think he would be putting so many conditions. It seems he still has his issues over ‘Fate’.”

Amaterasu chuckled at Naruto’s sheepish expression as he was reading the report. They were at the last stage of her grand plan to reincarnate Naruto. Naruto’s body was completed, and he was thrilled with the final outcome. Now, all that was left was to confirm the bodies of the other three souls she brought and where and how they would be reborn. For Naruto, since he was reincarnating, all he had to do was to take over the body she had created. The soul and the body would take time to adjust, meaning that the process of reincarnation was not instantaneous. It would take some time for him to wake up in his new body, maybe a couple of days to a month at most. After that, his reincarnation would be considered completed. Of course, he would need some extra time to get used to his new body and power. But she was sure that would not take long.

But the rest of the souls she brought would have to start over from the beginning, meaning all the way from infancy. Well, in most cases, since Jiraiya, Naruto’s mentor and godfather from his previous world, chose a youkai that not only was perfect for his personality but also bypassed this big hurdle, somewhat. He was quite the crafty one if she was being honest.

“Well, as you can see, I am also giving them the choice. Anything they want, as long as it is under our jurisdiction. After all, like you, they are our special guests.” Amaterasu leaned back onto her chair, “And for your friend here, although he has the most conditions, they are not that hard to grant. I mean, if you summarize everything, he wants two simple things. First, he wants to be the firstborn of a strong but friendly clan patriarch. Second is that he does not want us to interfere with his life. He wants to create his own path, his own ‘Fate’ as he liked to say.”

Naruto started rubbing the back of his head, “I guess I can see where he is coming from. Well, as long as he is happy with it.” He put down that report and went for another one, “But I do wonder how well things will go for him? I mean, it would suck if he would become a broody asshole again like his early childhood.” Naruto’s hand stopped mid-way, “Well, I will just give him another beating and talking if that happens. I mean, he turned out great after my ‘Talk no Jutsu’.”

Amaterasu delicately raised one eyebrow at Naruto but did not comment.

But before Naruto could read the following report, Susanoo barged in.

“Amaterasu, it’s a disaster! Izanagi came back!”

For a moment, she was utterly stunned. But when she finally registered the words, she abruptly stood up from her chair.

“This… is not possible.”

“Is there something wrong?” Naruto asked very politely as he put down the report. She and Susanoo looked at him and then back at each other. She understood from the eye contact that it was up to her whether to tell Naruto about the situation or not.

“Sit, Susanoo.” She waved her hand, conjuring another chair beside Naruto and locking the door simultaneously.

Sitting down, she looked at Naruto, “Can you wait for a moment?”

“Should I leave?”

“There is no need.” Amaterasu sighed, “If this is true, then we may need your help, much sooner than we expected.”

Naruto nodded in acknowledgment.

Amaterasu looked at Susanoo, who had been quiet until now, and finally started speaking, “Our mother’s shrine, the Izanagi Shrine, located at Hyōgo Prefecture was just invaded. I have already sent a platoon, but from the message we received, I do not think we will find any survivors by the time they will reach there. Fortunately, the Head Miko was able to send a fully detailed report of the attack.”

With that Susanoo took out a glowing orb, and he gave it to Amaterasu.

“A memory container,” Amaterasu sighed.

Before activating the memory container, Amaterasu looked at Naruto, who just smiled back and shook his head. Receiving a positive response, Amaterasu channeled some of her powers into the orb. The memory container immediately started displaying what had transpired to all of them.

The first thing they saw was the fierce fight in the temple courtyard. A fight where the Mikos were losing. What surprised Amaterasu was that both the youkai and humans were attacking their sacred temple. The scene switched and tried to give them an aerial view of the fight but could only maintain it for merely a few seconds before losing focus. For the next few moments, various scenes showed as if the Miko who shared her memory was trying to find someone. And finally, she succeeded.

The power was so vile that it could be felt from the memory. And the person shrouded by such abominable aura turned to face the Miko… and immediately everything went black.

“It’s him.” She did not want to believe it, but she could never mistake her father’s power no matter what skin he wore.

There was a pause, but only for a few seconds.

“Susanoo, alert everyone. There is no reason to hide his return. Also, I want you to check with both the West Youkai faction and the East Youkai Faction and find out which Youkai clans defected to his side.” She paused momentarily, “You may want to talk with Tsukuyomi as well; ask him if he can find out why humans were in the attack.”

Susanoo nodded, but he did not leave immediately. And she understood why.

“Let me talk to him alone.”

Releasing a deep breath, Susanoo nodded once again and he left the room.

“I believe you.”

That statement shocked Amaterasu. Naruto chuckled, “If you think that I will accuse you of bringing me all the way here to just fight for you, and right from the start… and that I will accuse you and the Shinto faction of this deception, then you are wrong. I don’t want to brag, but I think I am quite good at reading others, most of the time,” Naruto added with a sheepish chuckle.

“Thank you,” Amaterasu whispered. She truly feared that Naruto would lose trust in her and the Shinto Faction for what she would ask him.

“I know that I should properly tell you the history of Izanagi and us and why this is such a big deal for us…”

“The short version will be fine.”

Amaterasu looked at Naruto. Sometimes, his maturity in grasping situations would surprise even her.

“Thank you again for understanding,” Amaterasu paused as she quickly arranged the words in her head, “Izanagi is our father.” Seeing Naruto quietly listening, she continued, “He was not the best god or parent, but he was a good one… better than many, to be honest. Unfortunately, a terrible event, an injustice, befell upon our parents, which led to the tragic death of our mother, his wife, Izanami. Izanagi never got over her death; over time, it only worsened. We should have noticed it, the signs were there. Finally, he could not take it anymore and decided to revive Izanami at any cost. Now, you must understand that she was not a normal goddess. She was a primordial entity. And reviving her would mean bringing disasters of an apocalyptic level to the world and all the realms connected to it.”

“And it would have resulted in a faction war?” The realization hit Naruto.

“And the end of our faction,” Amaterasu nodded; the sadness in her tone was quite evident, “Because of that, we had to stop him no matter what. But we could not defeat him as he was stronger than us. So, we tricked him and sealed him in Hell.”

“And now he came back.”

“I do not know how he evaded ‘The Four Horsemen’, guardians of Hell,” Amaterasu sighed. But then she noticed the confused look on Naruto’s face, she chuckled wryly, “A lesson for a later time perhaps.”

Naruto matched her smile, “I understand.”

“I will start the ritual right away.” With that, she got up, and Naruto followed.

“How long will it take for me to adjust?”

“The bonding between your soul and your new body will take a few days, a month at most. After that, I cannot tell how long you need to get used to your new powers and body.” Amaterasu answered as they headed for the door.

“It will be funny if I wake up in my new body on October 10,” Naruto chuckled.

Amaterasu paused, “Ahh~” She remembered the date and understood what Naruto was implying, “Your actual birthday.”

Naruto just grinned back in response. Amaterasu smiled and shook her head,

“Today is September 15, 1939; just a few more days, I suppose.”

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X

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The Underworld

‘The Biblical God’ and ‘The Four Satan’ were not the only reasons most factions were wary of ‘The Three Factions’. There was another reason… it was their mighty armies. The overall power level of the armies belonging to the Angels, the Fallens, and the Devils was relatively high compared to other factions’ armies. This was not just a boasting but a fact proven throughout history. Angels and Fallens were well known for their distinct light attribute powers and advanced war technology. As for the devils, they had destructive powers and unique clan abilities. But what separated the devils from the Angels and the Fallens was the number of strong individuals they had, which was almost as much as the combined number of individuals Angels and Fallens had. So, the general populace of the Devil Faction was not much worried, even though there was a rumor that the King of Youkai had beaten their All-Powerful Sirzechs Lucifer, they did not believe it. To them, such a thing was not possible.

But Bedeze Abaddon knew the truth, he had seen it and felt helpless when the Youkai King struck. The attack was quick, brutal and had properly delivered the message: ‘The Avalon Kingdom was not weak’. Of course, the devils made sure that the news about the defeat of their Lucifer would not spread, even amongst the general devil populace. Somehow, they succeeded. But that did not mean that the danger was cleared. That was why he did all he could to help Zekram, even though he did not like the old fox. And the reason was that if Zekram were to fail, Bedeze would be in the first line to be executed.

Yes, Bedeze was one of the devils who took the lead part in ‘The Nekoshou Massacre’. He also knew that something or someone incited them when the devils had a heated argument with the Nekoshou. After all, even though it was mostly because of the King piece, he was still an ‘Ultimate-Class’ devil, a powerful one too. But he still went with his urge, killing and raping the unprepared Nekoshou. After all, the youkai were low-ranked beings that ought to serve higher ones like the devils. They should be glad that the devils gave them a chance to ascend through ‘Evil Pieces’. Yet, they were defying them. So, they got the fate they deserved, annihilation. Even though the haze left after the devils had their fun, most of them did not feel any remorse. But the situation completely changed when they saw what Naruto Ōtsutsuki was capable of.

But Bedeze knew they would still commit those heinous crimes if they were to go back in time. They were the devils, after all.

So, that was why Bedeze was doing everything he could to make sure Zekram would gain the final victory in this political war. He and most of the devils were confident that this would never escalate to an actual war. After all, there was no way the youkai would seek a direct confrontation. ‘The Avalon Kingdom’ might have one strong individual, but that did not mean that their army would be of any match against theirs.

And that was why they were completely caught off-guard when the Kingdom struck.

There was no sound, magic outlet, nothing; a flying ship appeared out of nowhere.

“It’s the enemy…” He could not finish as the cannons on the ship roared. It looked like the ship was loaded with nothing but cannons aimed at all sides. The design of it was ridiculous, but it served its purpose. The cannons did not fire in random directions. All the camps, including the mobile patrol camp he was leading, and the messenger camps far away… All of these locations were hit simultaneously. Fires engulfed the camps in a matter of seconds. A few unlucky devils died immediately, but the most quickly got back up on their feet and started casting defensive and healing magic.

The first round might have caught Bedeze off-guard, but he was ready for the second.

As soon as the flying ship fired the second round, Bedeze used his clan’s infamous ‘Hole’ ability and created multiple portals around the ship, which absorbed the cannon shells and reflected them back at the ship.

The counter was lethal. The ship was destroyed.

But before he could even release his next breath, four more ships appeared.

And they, similar to the first one, fired accurately and simultaneously.

This time there were just too many. So, Bedeze concentrated his powers around him. He could see many other strong devils also put up shields or barriers all around. But it was not enough. Quite soon, the screams of outrage turned into cries for help. But he did not care.

“Fall Back!” He shouted at the unit. The patrol unit members understood that their first line of defense had fallen. And if they did not retreat, they would just add to the body count. And it seemed they were not the only ones with a similar idea.

“Retreat! Retreat!” The command started echoing throughout the whole area.

Bedeze did not know how the others would retreat, nor did he care. He might have helped them if they were not cornered like this. But his focus was disrupted by a loud noise. He looked to his side, to the source of the noise,

And he blinked.

His queen was missing his head.

He looked around, and suddenly realized that many of the patrol unit members either had a huge hole in their chests or their heads were missing.

“Sni…” The second in command of the patrol unit could not even utter his last word, as he suffered the same fate as his queen. It was then that Bedeze realized that if it were not for his strong defense magic on his body, he would have been the same. He immediately created tons of portal-based shields in front of him and his unit, or whatever was left of it.

Then, he saw them… the Kingdom’s army, the so-called low-ranked youkai military.

Bedeze had never seen the actual youkai military before, but he had heard about them. They would mainly rely on their youkai magic or clan magic, but compared to the devil magic, the youkai magic lacked destructive power. As for their gears, they would wear different types of traditional clothes with katana, naginata, or mace as a weapon depending on the characteristics of the youkai.

But what he heard and what he was seeing… it was not matching up.

All the youkais coming out from the Nekoshou compound wore full black clothing, a grey flak jacket, and metal arm and leg guards. They were also armed to the teeth; from swords to guns to magical scrolls, they were carrying various kinds and sizes of weapons. But their animal-styled porcelain masks caught his eyes, and for some reason, he found the masks… menacing.

And then they attacked.

Some were using various types of guns combined with other weapons, while some were casting spells. And the way they were casting spells surprised Bedeze.

Youjutsu was the Youkai form of spellcraft and was mainly unique to the Youkai. But compared to the devil magic, not only was it less destructive, but it also would take a longer time to cast since the youkai had to write the magic words physically. Even though the magic words did not need any medium to write on, it was slower than the devil magic, which was mostly instantaneous.

That was what Bedeze thought. Unfortunately, it seemed he was wrong again.

The youkais weren’t writing words to cast spells, they were making hand signs. Not only were they fast, but they were also making hand signs while they were moving around.

This was… unheard of.

But this was not the time to falter.

Bedeze boosted his demonic powers using ‘The King Piece’ and created a massive portal above the Nekoshou compound, intending to wipe out the place completely. He knew his allies would be caught up in the blast, but he cared less. Right now, all he wanted was to stop the youkai at all costs.

“Dragon Strike.”

Blue streams of lightning came out from the Nekoshou compound and eventually took the shape of a vicious-looking dragon. But instead of striking the portal above, it charged right at him.

Bedeze immediately released the portal above the compound and created another strong one in front of him to defend him against the attack. At first, he thought that the portal was strong enough to reflect the attack. Unfortunately, when the attack landed on his portal, he felt the blow to his power. He knew it was not enough to defend, let alone reflect the attack, and immediately he started pouring more and more energy into his already cracked portal. It felt like an eternity to him before he began to see the attack withering. But he did not relax because he still could feel the pulse of the technique… through his bones. One wrong move, and he knew things would not end well for him. And finally, the attack died down.

His hands were shaking, and his breathing was unstable; it was not only because he was tired. It was because he finally saw the attacker.

It was not the silver-haired youkai’s good look or the menacing sword he was wielding that he was wary of. It was the feeling he got. His instincts told him that he should not fight this youkai, not like this. It was the same feeling he got when he first met Diehauser. The demeanor of a prideful individual whose strength could only be described with one word, ‘Monster’.

An opponent he could never beat fairly.

He had to escape.

Bedeze immediately fired energy blasts at him, all going at him from random directions. But instead of falling back as he hoped, the youkai deflected all his shots in one swift sword strike while charging at him.

He started to regret not teleporting out of the place at the first chance he got. He always had two safe locations locked on in case of emergencies. But those kinds of teleportation would take him more than a few hundred miles away to safety and would require some time to cast. And it seemed he would not be allowed to get that needed time.

Bedeze started covering the area with ‘Hole’ and placed them between him and his opponent. But instead of cutting the portals and charging at him like he wanted, the youkai started maneuvering around him.

“He knows about my powers?!”

As the youkai was dodging the portals and closing in, he was getting restless. No matter how fast he would relocate the portals or magic trap bombs, another of his specialties, the youkai was faster to reposition himself and even quicker to dodge his subtle traps. His movements were beyond abnormal.

Finally, he backed away.

And it was not for his power or attacks.

It was because the Devils’ trademark warship ‘Eve’ entered.

Bedeze could not help it, he started to laugh out loud. Because if this was here, then it meant that the Satans were not far behind.

“It’s over!” He snarled at his opponent, who was looking at the warship taking down two of the youkai’s ones. “Now, just stay still and accept your demise, like those cat whores!”

The look he got from the youkai after he said those words made his bones freeze.

“Orochi’s Breath.”

The sword the youkai was wielding glowed in green color, and Bedeze could sense the ominous feeling coming from the energy. And then the youkai swiped his sword. A massive amount of green fire came out from the weapon and once again took the shape of an Eastern-type dragon.

Bedeze immediately started creating portal after portal in front of him, simultaneously moving back to create distance. But to his horror, all the portals were being easily crushed one by one as if they were made of fragile glass. He knew that the attack was strong, but this was absurd. This attack was not anything like the first one. A moment later, he finally understood that he would not be able to outrun this attack. He immediately made his decision and stood his ground. He poured everything he had into his ‘Hole’ ability and created the strongest portal he could.

“Don’t get carried away!”

He shouted as the energy attack hit his reflective shield, to think that he would have to go all out against a mere youkai. He could feel he was being pushed back, but he knew he could block it and reflect the attack. He was Bedeze Abaddon, the third ranker of the rating game and an ‘Ultimate-Class’ devil. There was no way a no-named youkai was going to beat him.

“What the…!”

But his power was not enough as reality finally hit him.

The shield shattered, but he was able to move away at the last moment through a short-distance teleportation. It took every ounce of power he had to cast that. Still, it was not enough to save all of him.

“Aaaaaaaa!!”

He screamed at the sky as his left hand reached for his right one… but found nothing. He could see that the right side of his vision was blurred. He tried to stand but could not. He knew he had to look down to see the state of his body, but he was too scared to. But all was not lost yet. He took out a ‘Phoenix Tear’ with a shaking hand and gulped it down. He could feel the regeneration power kicking in… and then it stopped. He blinked and tried to reach for his right hand, but it still was not there.

“It… is not working.” He choked on his own words.

This was not real! His breathing became erratic, and he subconsciously started screaming again.

But his muffled screaming stopped as right in front of his eyes, ‘Eve’ was destroyed. One moment the warship looked unstoppable in its advance, and the next moment, it started falling. A single attack took down their so-called reinforcement.

“No! No! No!” He started crawling the other way. He had to get out fast, he couldn’t die like this.

“Someone! Anyone! …Help me!”

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Sesshomaru’s POV

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Sesshomaru knew that Bedeze had run away. He even knew where he teleported to, but he did not bother giving chase. The cowardly devil was not going to survive with the injury he received from his attack. Even if he did, it did not matter. Nothing mattered, as by the end of this night justice would be taken for the Nekoshou, one way or another.

The devils really did not know what was coming at them.

He silently gave orders to the squads and went after Magari, who was the first to take off. She wanted to get the most kills, which was quite understandable. But he could tell she needed backup as he sensed the new devils joining the fight. After all, Diehauser was not someone whom Magari could take alone.

As he was closing in on Magari, he saw all four of their flying ships falling. These ships were being piloted remotely, not a single soul was on board since they knew that these ships would be going down fast. So, they used these empty ships as baits to lure out something more prominent and something that would have some symbolic value for the devils.

And they did.

Sesshomaru stopped and aimed his katana at the massive flying warship.

“Meidō Zangetsuha.”

The moment the attack left his katana, he started running again. He did not even wait to see the outcome as he knew what it would be. After all, it was not his attack that would destroy the ship. It was just a distraction from the actual attack since it would be unwise to show their King’s hand before his grand entry.

His katana was already in motion when he reached where Magari was.

“Orochi’s Breath.”

He aimed to take down all three devils swiftly in one strike. But he failed. He predicted this would happen. After all, Diehauser was on a different level compared to Roygun and Bedeze.

It seemed Jiraiya’s judgments and predictions were on point, as usual.

He looked at Magari, who was out of breath. It seemed her powers were sealed. To seal away the power of someone of her caliber, ‘Worthlessness’ was indeed a very frightening ability.

No.

He looked at Diehauser, who until now had his gaze solely focused on him. Maybe it was the wielder. After all, according to Jiraiya, Diehauser was the fifth strongest devil, stronger than Grayfia, contrary to popular belief.

Sesshomaru took the first step forward.

Seeing that, Magari sighed and retreated without a word. He was glad she understood that she would not be much of a help, not with her current state.

He passed the dead ‘Phenex’. And he could not help but scoff when he saw the lady devil’s face paling. The devils always liked to exaggerate their powers and abilities. The Phenex clan members thought that except for holy attribute attacks, nothing could work against their regenerative abilities. They honestly called themselves ‘Immortals’. It was laughable how ignorant they were about the reality. Well, this war would surely open their eyes.

A small conversation occurred between the two devils before the lady departed, reluctantly it seemed. And during that time, he just deliberately waited.

After the lady left, Diehauser fully turned to him and bowed slightly, a respectable gesture, one that he returned.

And instantly, both of them clashed, closing the huge gap between them within a fraction of a second.

Diehauser blocked Sesshomaru’s katana with his bare hand. Not exactly bare as his hand was coated with demonic power.

Both immediately fell back after their first exchange.

“Finally, a devil who simply does not throw his power randomly, a unique devil indeed,” Sesshomaru thought as he took a proper fighting stance.

With the tip of his katana, Sesshomaru threw away the fur which was on top of his right shoulder. And the moment the coat hit the ground, it made a loud noise as the ground cracked. Not surprising since the fur weighed a lot. After all, it was training gear. But he had to give it to Diehauser, he did not even blink or give a slide glance at the fur.

And once again, both charged at each other.

Fists against blade,

Power against speed,

Diehauser had tremendous mastery over hand-to-hand combat as well as many martial arts. He was even coating his legs with demonic power to get an edge. But Sesshomaru was faster, and his swordsmanship was unmatched in their Kingdom. After all, he was defending as well as attacking with one sword, whereas Diehauser was using all of his hands and legs.

There was a chance that his ‘Meidō Zangetsuha’ or ‘Orochi’s Breath’ could finish this match in one shot, but he did not want to risk it. He knew that Diehauser was not the type to fall for the techniques that he had already seen once. Because there was a chance that if Sesshomaru could not finish the fight with those techniques, then Diehauser could get enough knowledge to use his ‘Worthlessness’ and seal those abilities. Even if the said chances were meager, it was a risk that he could not take.

Sesshomaru could see that his swordsmanship was better than Diehauser’s martial arts, but the devil had much power to spare, which he was using smartly to cover the gap. His magical coating over his limbs was not only thick but also had high regeneration.

Sesshomaru ducked a kick and tried to strike Diehauser’s other leg. But the devil flipped, trying to get a hit on him while he was in the air, but was unsuccessful. And as Diehauser landed, Sesshomaru went for his head once again.

But instead of dodging this time, Diehauser caught his katana with his bare hand.

This caught him off-guard, which the Belial took full advantage of.

The barrages of powered-up punches rained down on him, mostly aimed at his face and neck, and he took the full brunt for a mere second. And that one second was enough to bring Sesshomaru to his knees, almost. That was how powerful those punches were.

“Dragon Strike.”

But before the technique could even form, Diehauser let go of his katana and kicked him… or tried to, but Sesshomaru dodged and created some distance. At least he tried to, but the champion was not going to give him any space now that he had the advantage. Diehauser even coated his fist with ‘Worthlessness’ as each strike was somehow weakening him if it was making direct contact with his katana. It seemed Diehauser was aiming for his ‘Youkai Energy’ with his ‘Worthlessness’. The concept was very vague, but somehow it was working. Sesshomaru had no idea how. This was not in Jiraiya’s report. Was it because of how long they fought that he got a vague understanding of his power? Or was it that Diehauser had fought various youkai before? Maybe, he understood the properties of basic youkai energy and was waiting for the golden opportunity.

A remarkable tactic but futile in the end.

Diehauser stopped, not because he wanted to but because he was made to.

Sesshomaru had another katana out, one that was releasing a high level of holy energy.

Seeing his second katana and his new stance… Diehauser smiled, an exhausted and defeated smile. Sesshomaru very well understood the meaning behind that smile.

Diehauser started to gather a massive amount of demonic power. The Belial extended his arms forward, and an enormous orb appeared in front of his stretched arms. Sesshomaru easily sensed how much ‘Worthlessness’ Diehauser applied to his collected energy. It seemed to him that the rating game champion wanted to finish this with this last attack. It was his opponent’s last resort. And so, Sesshomaru replied in kind. He gathered his energy and applied it to his second Katana.

Finally, Diehauser threw the power orb at Sesshomaru… who cut the said orb in one slash with his ‘Tenseiga’. It might have looked easy, but it was not. Admittedly, the attack was strong enough to match his Meidō Zangetsuha’ or ‘Orochi’s Breath’. But against a powered-up ‘Tenseiga’, a dark attribute attack would not stand a chance. But even then, Sesshomaru had to put all his strength behind that single strike, to the point that his palm was bleeding because of how hard he had to hold the katana.

But in the end, he won. And there was no point in delaying such a one-sided fight. With that in mind, Sesshomaru shortened the distance and struck using ‘Tenseiga’. And once again, he did not hold back in his attack.

Diehauser did his best to block the attack, but it was pointless. The holy katana cut through his power and flesh alike. But even at the last moment, Diehauser showed how experienced of a fighter he was. He repositioned himself at the very last second so that only his arm got cleanly cut off. And as the blood was gushing out, he held his severed hand in a way that the blood got on Sesshomaru’s face, blinding him for a moment.

It was enough for Diehauser to back off. He even took his severed arm with him.

Sesshomaru sighed as he felt the rating game champion retreating. Unlike Bedeze, this was not a cowardly move if he was being honest. Since Diehauser stayed and fought for as long as he could, and when he saw defeat inevitable, he retreated. After all, defeat here meant death. But unfortunately for Diehauser, this was the outcome Sesshomaru wanted. Because when the devils would see the state of their top champions, especially Diehauser, their morale would crumble… and so would their feeble pride.

It was a wrong move from the Devil’s side to put their rating game champions on the front line. It was too easy for Jiraiya to find out about their signature move, their clan abilities, their specialties, and how they fight since the recordings of the rating games were not that hard to obtain. So while the youkai army knew about the devils’, it was not the same case for the devils.

Sesshomaru looked toward where he was sensing the main fight was going on. His grip on ‘Tenseiga’ tightened momentarily, and the katana pulsed. Immediately all his injuries were healed. He usually would not use ‘Tenseiga’ as he felt the katana was too overpowered because of its unique holy attribute, especially against dark and corrupted beings. Just like how in this battle against Diehauser, Sesshomaru would have had a harder time if he solely relied on ‘Bakusaiga’. There was even a slight possibility that Diehauser might have won the fight.

But the thing was, this was not a fight. It was war. Which meant anything and everything was allowed.

Sheathing ‘Tenseiga’, he rushed toward the frontline.

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Stolen novel; please report.

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X

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The frontline of the Main Battlefield

The devils outnumbered the youkai by two to one. Yet, it was the devil army that was taking the heavy blows.

Jiraiya snorted, “Really, what did they expect?”

He did his background research on ‘The Three Factions’ long before this incident. And he was surprised by what he found out about their military. Yes, as individuals, the devils, the angels, and the fallens were quite strong; but as a group, as a military unit, they lacked quite a bit. They lacked discipline and mindset. Unfortunately, it was the same case for almost all the factions. Maybe it was just him? After all, he came from a dimension where their whole life revolved around battles and wars.

Shaking his head once again, he started concentrating on the fights ahead of him and began taking notes. This was the first battle where Youkai and Faerie were going against one of the top factions. Funny thing though; to the devils, it may seem like an all-out war, but this was still a skirmish to ‘The Avalon Kingdom’. Yes, a deadly and devastating one but not a war.

Even though the devils surpassed the youkai and faerie, be it on numbers or powers, they were the ones who were being pushed back. Well, it was not only because of how highly advanced the Kingdom’s military was, both technologically and tactically, but it was also because of the shock. After all, they expected youkai to wear traditional clothes wielding swords and spears and casting their faulty magic. But what they got were youkai and faerie wearing improved and enchanted ‘Anbu’ outfits with guns and scrolls and casting their newly designed magic. As much as he would like to call them jutsu, they were not. After all, the spells were based on youkai or faerie magic, not chakra. And these spells were still inferior to the original jutsu… to him at least.

Maybe he was just being biased again.

And then there was the fact that the devils saw their warship ‘Eve’ being taken down by a single attack… two attacks actually.

But unfortunately for the devils, this was just a start. The Kingdom’s strategy was to show one hand at a time. Otherwise, if they went all-out, the devils would get scared and retreat.

They did not want that.

That was why they were baiting the devils. They were giving them enough time to ‘Hope’, and then they would crush their fragile hopes right before them. They would deliberately give them advantages to boost their ‘Pride’, and then they would destroy their insignificant pride as they kneel and cry. Their aim was to show the devils that they were not unstoppable, in the most brutal and efficient way.

Was this what he or Naruto wanted?

No.

But it was a necessary step since it was the devils who asked for it.

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw another large devil warship entering the field. It was not as big as ‘Eve’, but it was bigger than theirs. And he could not help but snort as the devils started to cheer and charge into the battle. And as planned, the devils were allowed to have this advantage for some time.

The warships belonging to the Devil Faction honestly could not be called ‘Warship’. Yes, they had some offensive capabilities, but their specialty was ‘Support’. They were either used for large-scale teleportation or for setting up huge barriers.

Even the current so-called warship was only healing and enhancing the devil troops.

“This should be enough,” With that, Jiraiya made a motion with his hand.

Moments later, a few of the ‘Anbu’ were teleported two hundred feet above the ground. As they fell, these five to six feet Anbu transformed into around thirty to forty feet ‘Giants’. Of course, their gears were enchanted so that they would not break. As the giants landed on the ground, he was sure that many of the devils pissed themselves, understandable though. The combined shockwave of their landing was enough to push back a large part of the devil’s frontline.

As the giants swung the large hammers they were carrying, the top part of the hammer opened up and threw large round explosive shells. And just like they were trained, all the giants were able to hit the devils’ warship simultaneously. And the warship went down in an instant.

Jiraiya had to give it to Naruto. His way of thinking outside the box really pushed their military’s might to the next level. And the devils were just witnessing the tip of the iceberg.

Jiraiya could not help it, he whistled out loud. From where he was, the scene looked quite cinematic. The giants were marching forward, and all the while the second ‘Hope’ of the devils was burning down to the ground.

But the march of the giants stopped as they were frozen within seconds.

It seemed that it was time for him to step in.

Jiraiya closed his notebook and stood up. And in the next moment, he was at the front of the battlefield, just twenty feet away from ‘Serafall Leviathan’ and ‘Falbium Asmodeus’.

Both Satans were surprised, but it lasted only for a second.

Serafall was the first to strike as she hurled large ice spears at him, and Falbium followed her by creating metal puppets.

But Jiraiya was already done with his part.

“Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet.”

The continuous stream of flames evaporated all the metal puppets in one shot. As for the ice spears, he just dodged them. It was expected as the projectiles were coming from a straight path.

“Let me show you how to use a projectile-type spell,” He thought in amusement, as his hands blurred to create the necessary hand signs, “Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.”

Several dragon-head-shaped fireballs rushed toward both Satans, and they were coming in a very erratic manner. Of course, in usual devil-style, Serafall released a burst of ice energy and froze the fireballs. And immediately, both Satans changed their tactics. Serafall created around twenty large ice hawks, and Falbium created hundreds of large chakrams. And not a moment later, all these birds and weapons rushed at Jiraiya. The difference from before was that these attacks were coming in a zigzag pattern this time, just like how Jiraiya used his ability.

“Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.”

The sea of flame covered the entire area before him, effectively blocking everything thrown at him. Unfortunately, his technique was not strong enough as the fire died down relatively fast, and some of the ice hawks were able to survive the fire. Of course, he easily destroyed those ice hawks with some well-accurate strikes.

Jiraiya sighed. It seemed that elemental spells created from youkai energy were still inferior to the devils’ ones, even though he and Naruto updated ‘Youjutsu’.

He sensed Falbium coming at him but could not react fast enough. He blocked the powered-up punch, but it seemed he underestimated the devils. Falbium’s power fist broke his right arm. He knew that Satan Asmodeus was strong, but he should have been able to dodge him. Of course, he quickly figured out the reason. It was the Satan Leviathan. She seemed to be using some very advanced ice magic to lower his speed and defense.

But it was not like he was in any danger.

Falbium noticed the change and immediately retreated, but he was not fast enough this time. Jiraiya covered his fist with Touki and punched him. Not only he felt a few bones breaking, but he also sent the Satan flying. He did not wait a moment as he immediately appeared in front of the surprised Serafall.

“Five Elements Seal.”

Serafall let out a silent scream when his fingers landed on her stomach. Jiraiya quickly followed up with his next unique ‘Fuinjutsu’.

“Demonic Power Seal.”

Serafall couldn’t stay afloat as her powers were sealed. It was not a complete sealing. Jiraiya moved away from the Satan Leviathan and landed precisely where he was standing before.

‘Youjutsu’ still lacked quite a bit compared to ‘Devil Magic’, especially in the elemental and old Youkai magic section. But it was a different case for ‘Senjutsu’ and ‘Fuinjutsu’. He and Naruto were able to recreate these two types of Jutsu, which were a lot similar to their old world. And to him, the highest level of these two types of techniques had caught up to the highest level of ‘Devil Magic’ or ‘Holy Magic’. But the problem was elsewhere. Many could use ‘Senjutsu’, but only a handful could use ‘Sage Mode’. And very few could use just the basic of ‘Fuinjutsu’, let alone the advanced section of it.

The two Satans got up, it took them less than nine seconds. Jiraiya had to admit he was impressed, especially at what Serafall did. The Lady Satan literally froze his magic seals. It seemed her ‘Ice Magic’ went beyond than simply creating ice structures.

The reason Jiraiya was able to take both alone was because of the naivety of the said Satans. Serafall and Falbium were not going all out. They were going all out in their current form, but Jiraiya was not a spymaster for nothing. He knew about ‘The Demon Form’ of the current Satans. Jiraiya could handle one of them in their Demon Form, but two would be too much for him. Of course, he had backup but it seemed that would not be necessary… at least not at the moment.

Maybe they were being cautious, or perhaps they were just saving up their energy. Regardless, by allowing him to handle both of them, the Satans were crushing their own army’s morale.

“Celsius Cross Trigger!” Serafall shouted.

Jiraiya blinked. He could sense the immense power behind the technique. He could roughly estimate the outcome of the attack. It seemed Serafall wanted to wipe out their entire army in one go, something he couldn’t allow.

“Elemental Layered Imperial Guardian Seal.”

To Serafall’s horror, her ice magic couldn’t advance when he was done with his magic. Instead, all her ice magic gathered around the humungous magic circle on the ground he created. The magic circle compressed the ice magic and started using her magic as fuel to create a gigantic ice statue. Serafall tried to command the ice to get away from the circle, but it was not working. In the end, Jiraiya used her signature technique to create a giant ‘Susanoo’ made of ice.

“Who said you need ‘Sharingan’ to have a ‘Susanoo’?” Jiraiya snorted.

But his ‘Susanoo’ could take only three steps before it shattered.

Jiraiya did not need to look at the source, he felt him coming from miles away.

“It seems the royal cavalry has arrived.” Jiraiya laughed.

Indeed, Ajuka Beelzebub had arrived and with him came the main devil army, consisting of even clan heads and their private armies, just what he wanted. Well technically, he created the Susanoo so the devils could see where to come. It was more like a final touch-up of his grand entrance.

As Ajuka was raising his arm, Jiraiya put his hands up quickly in a surrendering motion, “Whoa~ Whoa~ calm down.” Then he folded his fingers, except for his index fingers as they were now pointing upwards, “I am not your opponent.”

Jiraiya could see all three Satans’ eyes widening as they looked up where he was pointing.

Naruto Ōtsutsuki had entered the battlefield.

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Naruto’s POV

.

Naruto was here from the very beginning. He saw his army killing the devils and, at the same time dying at the hands of the devils. He saw everything. He could have ended all the fights if he entered earlier, but he did not. He could not. He needed everyone else to fight first. It was to show the devils that ‘The Avalon Kingdom’ was not weak, that they had other strong individuals besides him, and that their army could easily match theirs. It was not what he wanted, but it was a necessary evil.

But now it was the perfect time for him to enter the battle, and so he did. And the reason no one sensed him all this time was because he did not allow them to.

He could see that most devils were scared but they still tried to put up a brave front. He knew why they were frightened, and it was not because of what he did last time. It was because unlike before, when he came as a king who asked for justice that his people wanted, this time, he came as a king who would take the justice that his people deserved. And even his outfit was different. He was wearing his royal outfit. It was simple white formal cloth with a lightly ornamented white cape on top of it. And on the cape, in kanji ‘The First King’ was written vertically down. Of course, he was not wearing any crowns or excessive jewelry, but he looked intimidating even with this simple clothing. And that was the point.

After all, this time, he came as a king who was going to conquer them.

The first one to react, just as he thought, was Ajuka. The green-haired Satan created a giant serpent made of pure energy and threw it at him who was floating around a hundred feet above the ground. Naruto did not move from his spot. He closed his eyes and simply pointed at the attack with his index finger. And out of nowhere, the forty feet long energy serpent exploded. It was as if it hit an invisible and immovable wall.

The surprised reaction of Ajuka and the rest of the devils were priceless. After all, they could not sense anything. It just happened all of a sudden, and Naruto was not even looking.

Naruto could feel Ajuka getting angrier and started to gather a tremendous amount of power. He knew why he was doing that. Regardless, he did not move and waited until Satan Beelzebub was done.

Ajuka started to go through his unique transformation. Horns began to come out from his forehead, and his hair started to grow, at the same time, two more eyes popped out right on top of his original ones. His body rose to eight feet, and instead of twelve bat-like wings coming out from his back, two large dragon-like wings came out. But what stood out most was the glowing green markings all over his body.

The devils around him were awed at the transformation and the monstrous power he released.

When Ajuka was done transforming into his Demon Form, he rushed toward Naruto. His fist was coated with unique demonic magic power. This was not a simple powered-up fist like most of the devils. No doubt a hit from that fist could even knock down a major god.

But Naruto merely stopped that fist with his index finger. His eyes were still closed.

The silence that followed made Naruto laugh… almost.

Naruto then flicked his middle finger from the same hand, and Ajuka flew backward, more like blasted off.

He could sense that the rest of the devils started to panic, but the bald Satan quickly took control of the army and started giving commands. Seconds later, the ground began to light up as the devils started readying their spells. Slowly the land was engulfed in a sea of light as all the devils completed their spells. Finally, at the command of that same Satan, every devil fired their spells.

Although many of the spells were simply powered-up blasting types of magic, there was a lot that was unique. Naruto could easily sense some of the invisible and hard-to-track types of spells among those. The total amount of power from all these spells could easily wipe out an entire region.

And to defend against these devastating combined attacks, Naruto simply pointed his index finger upward. Immediately all the spells, visible and invisible, common or unique, changed their direction and went upward. To every devil’s horror, all their attacks went at least another few hundred feet above Naruto before they exploded.

The explosion was so strong that all the devils had to cover themselves with energy shields, those who were closer even had to go down. But the closest one, Naruto, did not even move.

Then out of nowhere, a large powerful energy beam came at him, courtesy of Ajuka. This attack was much stronger than the combined attack of the devil army. Once again, Naruto did not move. He did not need to as the energy beam stopped ten feet away from him as if it hit an invisible wall again. But unlike other attacks, this one was slowly getting closer to Naruto. All the devils were looking at it expectantly, hoping that it would at least hit Naruto. But unfortunately, when the beam came four feet closer to him, it ran out of power. That’s what the devils thought, but Naruto sensed that Ajuka had let go of the attack knowing that he would not make it in the end.

And as soon as the attack stopped, all three Satans were right in front of Naruto. To be honest, they were within his arms reach. The Satans were going all out at this point, as the last two Satan Serafall Leviathan and Falbium Asmodeus also transformed into their Demon Form.

Serafall’s ‘Demon Form’ was similar to Magari’s… an elemental transformation. Her arms and legs were covered in ice; no, it was more like they were now made of ice. But it was her skin that caught his eyes. It was ‘Artic’ blue.

As for Falbium, it was more like he wore super-enchanted armor rather than going through an actual transformation. It was a full-body armor made of some sort of unknown black metal. It looked like one of those dark knight’s armor from video games. But he also had unique wings like the rest of the Satans.

The combined power of the three Satans in their ‘Demon Form’ was making the whole place shake. It was as if the atmosphere around them could not contain so much power. But in the end, it was futile.

Naruto pointed at the ground with his index finger, and immediately Serafall and Falbium flew downwards. Surprisingly though, Ajuka stood his ground. Was it his infamous ‘Kankara Formula’? Or his pure raw power? Regardless, Naruto stopped the energy ball that Ajuka created by holding it with his bare hand.

Ajuka’s eyes widened at the scene in front of him. The energy ball he created started decreasing in size as Naruto began absorbing the demonic energy. He had to give it to the green-haired Satan. He immediately understood that standing closer to Naruto was dangerous, so he retreated immediately.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at Ajuka, “Congratulation, you made me use a second technique.”

Yes, all this time, he was only using ‘Gravity Manipulation’. It was derived from the ‘Deva Path’ of the ‘Six Paths Technique’, but it was vastly superior. And during this whole battle, he was using a sub-technique… ‘Zero Gravity’. This would create a large dome around Naruto and anything that entered this dome, Naruto could control the ‘Direction’ of it through gravity. There were some limitations as he was still unable to manipulate ‘Gravity’ or ‘Direction’ of something that was completely ‘Concept’ based.

It was, as of now, one of his favorite abilities.

Regardless, it was time he started on the attack.

Naruto raised his arm, his index finger pointing upward.

“Planetary Rasengan.”

The Rasengan was half his size, with three smaller ones surrounding it. He then pointed his index finger at Ajuka, and the Rasengan went straight at him. Ajuka dodged it easily. It was not surprising since the green-haired Satan was not his target. Before Ajuka could get ready for his next attack, he stopped. All the devils lost their balance when they felt the explosion. The might of the explosion shook the ground and distorted the sky, but that was not all. When the devils finally got back up on their feet, they looked back. Naruto could see that even Ajuka was speechless at the scene.

After all, the closest mountain, around ten kilometers away, was completely gone. It was not the fact that his attack destroyed the mountain. No, because Ultimate class devils could do that as well. The devils were speechless because they could not sense the power of the attack at all. They just thought it was a simple small-scale attack. After all, they sensed only that much power.

“What’s wrong?” Naruto’s voice boomed, it was as if his voice was coming from all sides, “Aren’t you going to attack?”

He then raised his arm once again, this time his palm facing the sky.

“Stellar Rasengan.”

A giant Rasengan was created right on top of him, which was around ten times larger than his whole body. And around the giant Rasengan, nine ‘Planetary Rasengan’ of different sizes were circling, just like the solar system. But what was special about ‘Stellar Rasengan’ was that it could absorb foreign and invading energy. And in case it could not, the attack would just outright explode… meaning it was tough to stop this attack.

And this time, he made sure that unlike the Planetary Rasengan, the devils could sense the power of the Stellar Rasengan. And they did, as he could see the hopelessness in their eyes. After all, this Rasengan of his could wipe out a planet. He could go one step further, but there was no need.

“Can you freeze my attack, Serafall? How about you, Falbium, any tactics? No? Ajuka, you have your ‘Kankara Formula’, right? Will that help?” Naruto shifted his gaze from the Satans to the rest of the devils, “How about all of you clan Heads? You have something, right? After all, I am just a lowly youkai who shouldn’t be talking about justice and equality. Where are the pride and scorn you showed me at the stadium?”

A Pause…

“Where is it?!”

His Rasengan pulsed, just once. And the effect immediately took place. The ground started to crack, the sky started to change its color. As for the devils, many of them fell on their butts. Because this time around, they could sense that this attack would undoubtedly destroy the whole main continent where most of the devils reside, there was no question about it.

“I am not the Biblical God, I am not Michael, I am not Azazel. I am not any other factional leader that all of you are used to seeing. I am Naruto Ōtsutsuki, the first king of the Avalon Kingdom. I will not sit idly by when my people are slaughtered. I will not look the other way when my people shed tears of blood. I will tear apart your world and bring havoc upon your faction. And I will bring Justice to my people. Even if I have to break your faction brick by brick!” Naruto roared. The sheer pressure from him and the attack incapacitated most devils. He could see Ajuka and the other two Satans were furiously thinking of a counterattack, but nothing would work.

“Please, stop.”

Naruto, as well as all the devils, looked at the newcomer.

It was Sirzechs Lucifer.

The devils wanted to put their hopes on the strongest devil. But they could not, not with how he was currently looking. Sirzechs had bandages covering up most of his body, and from the clothes, the devils could see that he was missing an arm. And he was standing with the support of his wife, Grayfia. This scene solidified the rumor of Sirzechs being defeated by Naruto. Although quite a lot knew about it already, many did not as the clan heads did their best to make sure this fact did not spread. But in the end, the truth finally came out. And that made the devils despair more.

“It does not have to end this way.” The pleading tone of their Lucifer was not lost on anyone.

“And whose fault is it that it escalated to this far?” Naruto stated, his voice completely emotionless.

Sirzechs looked down. With a sigh, he looked back up and met Naruto’s gaze, “I will take full responsibility…”

“It does not work that way, Sirzechs.” Naruto interrupted him as he shook his head sideways. His gaze was just as cold as his voice, “Try again.”

Sirzechs just held his gaze. A few seconds later, although it seemed hours for the devils, Sirzechs stepped forward. He was unsteady but gestured to his wife that he was fine. He took a few more steps. Finally, he extended his good arm and gathered his signature ‘Ruin the Extinct’. Immediately roars of cheers came from the devils as everyone started to power up.

And then the silence came just as fast as Sirzechs struck down some specific devils behind him. It happened in an instant, tens of devils just ceased to exist.

“This is my verdict.” Sirzechs closed his eyes and gathered his energy, so much that all the devils were rooted on their spot in fear. “The clan heads that took part in the Nekoshou Massacre will be stripped away of their position and will be placed under house arrest for fifty years. The heirs and heiresses who took part will have to give up their ‘Evil Pieces’ and be under house arrest for at least ten years. And the ringleaders of the massacre will be facing execution, no matter who they are.”

Sirzechs once again met Naruto’s gaze, but this time his eyes looked tired.

“Is that acceptable, King Ōtsutsuki?”

Naruto waved his hand, and the Stellar Rasengan disappeared. But he made sure to keep the pressure on the devils. He then turned around and extended his other hand toward the Nekoshou compound. For some moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, the compound started to rise from the ground, and the land slowly started to break apart. Although the devils were alert, none took any actions. They simply could not.

It took some time, but finally the broken pieces of the land formed into a giant twenty feet pillar with markings and words adorning it.

“Every year on May 15, the day of the Nekoshou Massacre, all of you will come and pay respect to the dead, to the lives you have taken.”

Sirzechs nodded his head at Naruto’s statement.

“We will do that.”

“All of this could have been avoided if you had just put that repulsive pride of yours aside.” Naruto sighed. He then closed his eyes, and clapped. “Outer Path – Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.”

Naruto could see that everyone tensed at the translucent being that he summoned, some even tried to attack, but Sirzechs once again released his power to take control of the mass. It was understandable, as the summoned being was around ten feet tall and wore a traditional Oni mask. It did look quite intimidating. The being, he could not call it the king of hell anymore for obvious reasons, raised its staff. And not a moment later, it released all the souls of the deceased, friends and foes alike. But only those that died in the war, not the ones that Sirzechs himself killed.

Unfortunately, it was not the usual technique of the original Rinnegan. ‘Outer Path – Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique’ was one of the original techniques he could not use because of the laws of this dimension since it had so many other Gods and Goddesses. But for now, he was using multiple techniques together to get the result. First, he would mark the souls. Second, if the marked souls were to die, he would contain the souls, making sure they would not go to the afterworld. Then, he would return the souls to their rejuvenated bodies. And that was why he was here from the start, making sure he marked everyone so that he could revive them. After all, this technique had many limitations.

As for why he revived the devils? There were two reasons. One, now the Devil Faction would not be able to use the death of the devils in this battle as an excuse to attack them. And the second was to send a message. It was easy for him, for the King of Youkai, to take their lives and to return them.

Naruto snorted at the stunned expression of the devils as they finally noticed what was going on, “As I said, all I wanted was proper Justice for the Nekoshou… nothing more, nothing less.”

“Then why didn’t you revive the Nekoshou? We could have avoided these meaningless fights if you did.” What Ajuka said held some value, but it was the same as Sirzechs. He accused him of things without knowing what was happening from behind.

For a moment, Naruto released his full power and made sure only Ajuka could feel it. Otherwise, the pure pressure from his power would have killed many devils. It was the first time he saw fear in Ajuka’s eyes. And with just a pure gaze, Naruto showed Ajuka the difference between their power levels.

“Was there anything left of the Nekoshou?” Naruto said with a smile, but he increased the pressure on Ajuka for the last time before withdrawing his power.

He then looked at Sirzechs and nodded toward him. Seeing that the current Lucifer understood the message, Naruto knew that the first part of it was finally over. He also sensed that all the youkai and faerie retreated, along with the packages.

With that, he disappeared.

.

Sirzechs’ POV

.

When Naruto disappeared, it was as if all strings were cut loose, Sirzechs collapsed. But his wife got him first. And the next person that came to support him was Ajuka, who reverted to his normal form. Sirzechs could see that Serafall and Falbium were taking back the control of the devil army. They were panicking, which was understandable, as their own Lucifer killed some devils right in front of them.

“When did you get up?” Ajuka asked, worried.

Before Sirzechs could answer, Zekram came. Saying that he was unhappy would be an understatement, the old devil looked furious.

“You stupid boy! What have you done?!”

He could see that both his best and his wife started to get angry. But one look and they calmed down somewhat.

“Words from Naruto Ōtsutsuki to you. ‘Take care of the people as much as you take care of the chair. And, just so you know, the real world doesn’t work like chess pieces, dumbass.’ Again, these were his words, not mine.” Sirzechs stated tiredly. It took some time before Zekram finally understood the meaning behind those words. With an ashen face, the old devil immediately teleported out.

Seeing the confused look from Ajuka, Sirzechs chuckled, “I think Naruto meant that he went to Zekram Bael’s place and probably found something that the old fox was hiding.”

It took a few seconds before the genius tactician finally understood what Sirzechs was saying.

“He came to Gremory compound?!”

Sirzechs would never forget the fear and the helplessness he felt at that time.

.

Flashback

.

Sirzechs opened his eyes slowly. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the light. He tried to move, but his body did not respond well.

“Easy there.”

The voice made his eyes snap open and look at the source.

Naruto Ōtsutsuki was sitting on the right side of his bed. And to his left side, his son, Millicas, and his wife, Grayfia, were seated. He finally noticed that they weren’t moving at all. His breathing became erratic, and he felt his whole body shaking. He tried to gather his power, but he could not.

“Don’t worry, I did not do anything to them. I have a lovely wife and a cute daughter so I can understand your fear. But rest assured that I will not touch them, regardless of the outcome of our discussion,” Sirzechs’s head moved toward Naruto. Not willingly at all, it was as if something forced his head to turn toward Naruto, “that we are going to have now.”

The youkai king was smiling. The smile did not have a shred of façade or deceit, yet Sirzechs had never felt so much fear seeing such an innocent smile.

“Look, no need to make such a face. I just put them, and the rest of your family under a gentle illusion. After all, I don’t want them to come for my neck.” Naruto laughed, but his fear only increased when Sirzechs heard that his whole family was under the thumb of the person who defeated him with ease.

“I am not the type that goes after a family. But since you don’t know me that well, no matter how many times I will say this, my words will have no value. So let us finish our discussion. The sooner we will be done, the sooner I will leave.” Naruto said nonchalantly.

“What do you want?” Sirzechs asked, his voice raspy.

“Justice for Nekoshou,” Naruto sighed, “Why doesn’t a single devil understand such a simple fact? I do not want your land, treasure, women, or technology. All I want is justice for the deceased Nekoshou... Repay it by blood, not a drop, more or less.”

“The devils were influenced. We were…”

He could not finish as Naruto laughed out loud, it was a humorless laugh, something that just sounded wrong, “Ahh~ Same bullshit like other devils. Ask yourself this, what would you have done if our roles were reversed? Would you have listened to these kinds of cover-ups? Hmm~”

Sirzechs could not reply and seeing that Naruto smiled, “Just as I thought.” Naruto got up and Sirzechs tensed. He once again tried to gather his powers but to no avail.

“An hour later, ‘The Avalon Kingdom’ will strike. Don’t worry, it will not be an all-out attack from our side. No matter what you believe, trust me, ‘The Devil Faction’ will not survive an all-out attack from us.” Naruto chuckled as he made his way toward the door, “I will give you one last chance, Sirzechs Lucifer. You are supposed to be the leader, not this Zekram Bael. And if he starts throwing tantrums at your decision, just tell him, ‘ Take care of the people as much as you take care of the chair. And, just so you know, the real world doesn’t work like chess pieces, dumbass.’ He will know what I meant.”

Naruto stopped just as he reached the door, “Sirzechs,” This time, the voice sent chills throughout his blood, “Don’t let me down for the second time. All I want is peace and justice, but if I have to rip apart another faction to get them, I will not hesitate to do so. I will not like it, but I will do it for my people. It’s a promise.”

With that, he was gone.

.

Flashback ends

.

“When he was gone, everyone was back to normal.” Sirzechs sighed, “After that, I had a long discussion with Grayfia and my parents.”

“And this was the answer you came up with?” Ajuka asked.

“You’ve seen him, Ajuka. You know that there was no time to play around with words.” Sirzechs replied.

“I am not disappointed. I think you chose the safest decision.”

Much to his confusion, Sirzechs laughed at Ajuka’s words, “I did not choose the decision, my friend. The choice was all but given to me. ‘The Avalon Kingdom’ went toe to toe with our army. And then their special individuals started winning against ours. And finally, Naruto Ōtsutsuki all but played with the full might of ‘The Devil Faction’. They deliberately crushed our hopes and pride so that not many would complain if I made the hard choice. And even if they did, they would not gain any support, not after this. Not after the last stunt he pulled.”

Ajuka’s eyes widened as he understood what Sirzechs meant, “You mean the reason he deliberately resurrected the devils in front of us…”

“He did it to show that my choice not only brought back the devils but also stopped a war that would easily take lots of lives. He was also able to make one point clear,” Sirzechs smiled grimly, “He forced the notion into every devil that the Avalon Kingdom is strong, if not stronger than us.”

Ajuka felt fear once again. Sirzechs could see that, and he knew very well why. His best friend was known for predicting future events, but even with his brilliant mind, he could never think of something like this.

“Ajuka,” Sirzechs called out to his friend, “Make sure that the pillar is well secured, and inform all the devils that any disrespect toward it will be met with harsh punishments.” Then he turned toward his wife, who was until now, silently holding him up, “I will go back and rest for a while.”

As Grayfia created the teleportation spell, Sirzechs looked back at Ajuka again, “By the way, if I am not wrong, I think you may find some devils missing. Just let that go.”

Ajuka raised an eyebrow at that statement.

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X

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The Avalon Kingdom

Diodora Astaroth was shaking to his core as he fell on his butt. He was sure that he pissed himself. And who wouldn’t after seeing the scene in front of him?

A giant two-tailed cat made of pure blue flame was eating Bedeze Abaddon… alive. The third-ranked champion screamed his lungs out and threw his specialized ‘Hole’ ability, but nothing worked. Finally, his screaming stopped as with another large bite, the cat ate him whole. But the crunching sound did not stop yet. And when it did, the cat then turned around and lunged at another devil.

This was not supposed to happen!

Diodara was one of the devils that took part in the Nekoshou Massacre. But it would not come as a surprise to the devils who truly knew him. There was no way he was going to miss such an opportunity. And who was going to punish them? The worst that could happen was that their movement would be restricted for a month, a maximum of a year. But his belief was crushed when he saw what the youkai king did to their mighty Lucifer. And somehow, he got the feeling that he was marked.

But unlike Bedeze, he did not have the courage to go out and fight. He took the complete opposite route. He barricaded himself at Astaroth’s main house, which was modified by Ajuka long ago. He even tricked his parents into calling back their personal territorial army and had them guard the parameter around the clock. He knew that he was safe. He should have been. But it seemed he was wrong.

He did not know what happened, but he was in this huge stadium when he woke up. And he was not alone. All the devils that went the extra length and had some fun in the massacre were here. But seeing Bedeze, he had hoped they could escape. Unfortunately, his hopes were crushed when he noticed who else was in the stadium.

The stadium was filled with youkai and what seemed like different kinds of monsters and faeries. And all of them had a strange and vicious gleam in their eyes as if they were waiting for a show to start. The devils were not just simply standing still. Bedeze and other strong devils were throwing spell after spell at them, but nothing was going through the invisible barrier. Diodara deduced that the same barrier was why they could not use teleportation spells. Some devils were berating and badmouthing the youkai, especially about the Nekoshou. The devils were hoping that some of the youkai would charge at them in anger and accidentally would bring down the barrier. But all the youkai were doing in response was laughing at them, as if they were ignorant of what was about to happen.

And they indeed were ignorant.

Suddenly, the stadium quieted down, even the devils stopped their rampage when they saw the final person entering.

Naruto Ōtsutsuki entered the stadium and sat on a special seat. He looked at them for a minute at most in silence. But that one minute felt like ages for the devils. And then without a word, he just snapped his fingers.

Then out of nowhere this large feline came and started mauling them.

Suddenly, Diodara noticed something.

He was the last devil.

And the giant beast was looking at him like he was some kind of food as if he was just a mere object only for its pleasure. A look he was pretty acquainted with.

He gave a loud scream as the beast opened its mouth and closed in on him.

He felt the pain, the death embracing him, tearing him apart from inside out. It was indescribable. When others said no pain was greater than death, they were not lying. But with this, it was over.

Or it should have been.

Diodara blinked.

He was alive, and so were the rest.

Was it an illusion?

No.

He saw the blood on the ground and the torn-up clothes on his body. And the monster was standing right where he was just seconds ago.

“Who said you could die?”

He looked up at the youkai king, who spoke without any emotions.

“You are not allowed to unless we have our fill.”

Diodara opened his mouth, but no words came out. Those were the exact words one of the devils spoke while torturing a Nekoshou.

He let out a piercing scream, but he stopped midway as the monster jumped and took a bite out of him again. But this time, it didn’t finish him in one bite. It was taking its time by slowly chewing him, all the while he was still breathing.

“Some… one…!”

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Naruto’s POV

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He let out a tired breath but did not turn away from the scene as the two-tailed cat started chewing the young devil. As much as he wanted to give swift death to the convicts, he had to listen to the deceased Nekoshou in the end. They pleaded with him to provide them with a chance to take revenge against those who took everything from them.

He was not the type to encourage revenge, not in this fashion. But he had learned the hard way that it was not up to him to decide that all the time. It was okay for him to step in when the revenge was created because of someone’s ploy. It was okay for him to step in when the revenge harmed innocents. But it was not okay for him to step in when the guilty was such vile beings… when the revenge was justified.

Of course, if it were something small, he would have tried to reason with the Nekoshou, but it was not. So, he promised that he would grant their simple wish.

And this was one of the main reasons to resurrect the devils. There was no point in killing the innocent, and at the same time the right to kill the convicts only belonged to the Nekoshou. He ordered August to create a special team whose job was to capture all the devils that tortured or raped the Nekoshou. It did not matter if the said devil was an important clan head, or a well-known heir, or a relative of a Satan. As for the devils who gave swift death to the Nekoshou, he left them for Sirzechs. Of course, he told the deceased Nekoshou that he could not take all the devils for apparent reasons, but he would retrieve all those that performed heinous acts toward them, no matter what. The deceased Nekoshou were okay with his decision.

The other reason was politics; this was pointed out by Jiraiya. This event could be considered as the acting stage for the grand entrance for the Avalon Kingdom. And if he were to massacre all the convicted devils there, it would send a wrong message to every other faction. But this way, it showed that the Avalon Kingdom would take the appropriate amount of action only when it was necessary. At the same time, it also showed how powerful the Avalon Kingdom truly was.

As for the deceased Nekoshou, even after he had purified their souls and sent them off, it was not enough. Even when he brought the whole Devil Faction to its knee, he knew he could do more. He promised them that he would.

And so, he did.

Naruto gathered all the souls of the deceased and gave them a form. He also gave them a portion of his power so that the devils could not harm them at all, no matter how strong they were. In a sense, the two-tailed cat which looked exactly like Matatabi, was the collective form of all the deceased Nekoshou which had a fraction of his power. He really wished to revive all of them, but he had neither the ability nor the authority to do it. But he was glad that at least with this, all the deceased Nekoshou would now properly be able to pass away. The corruption that was cast on their souls would be thoroughly cleansed.

And the guilty would be rightfully punished.

Now all that was left for him was to find the main culprit.

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X

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The Heaven

“Is this true?!”

The answer to that question was simple, but that simple word was hard to say for Michael.

Currently, he and Raphael were in the private chamber used by their father. The room was simple but, at the same time had an elegant touch to it because of the intricate designs. Although the four Great Seraphs would always take care of this room, none would stay here any longer than necessary. After all, this place would always remind them of who they lost in the Great War. But this was an exception.

“Brother!”

Michael sighed. He knew very well why someone calm and collected like Raphael was this frustrated. He looked at the picture of their father, the only picture that showed his form. The Biblical God’s full body was made with light, but it was not hard to distinguish his body features but there was one thing that was clearly shown in the picture.

“Yes,” Michael once again focused on the unique third eye that their father possessed. “The youkai king, Naruto Ōtsutsuki possesses the ‘Eye of the One’. But rest assured, he is not our father.”

Only a handful of beings knew about their father’s third eye. Because their father made sure that the source of his power would always stay hidden, no matter what. And that was why he would have a formless appearance that he used most of the time.

“Michael,” he finally looked at his younger brother, “This is ‘Eye of the One’ we are talking about. Maybe he is the reincarnation of our father, maybe he is his second son. You do know that only our father possessed the ‘Eye of the One’. And the fact that we have found another person when we are facing such a dire situation cannot be considered a mere coincidence. You do remember what his last words were, right?”

“Do not give up on hope.” The words came automatically to his lips. Over the centuries, these words became like a prayer for Michael… to continue, to move on.

“Maybe this is the hope he was talking about,” Raphael pleaded.

“He is the king of ‘The Avalon Kingdom’.”

“He belongs here!” Raphael did not shout, but his conviction clearly showed through his tone.

“If he truly is our ‘Hope’, then he will eventually come here.” Michael sighed. Seeing Raphael’s reaction, Michael was glad that he did not tell Gabriel and Uriel. Because if those two had heard about this, they would have rushed to the kingdom to meet Naruto, regardless of the consequences. And seeing what ‘The Avalon Kingdom’ did to the devils, although to some it was justified, Michael did not want to push their luck.

Also, he was not sure of what to think of Naruto. He was similar to their father because of the aura he felt from him, but at the same time, very different because of the actions he had seen him take. But there was one sure way to find out if he was related to their father in any way. And it was to see how much control Naruto could have over ‘The Heaven’s System’. But for that to happen, they had to bring him here somehow. And the best way to do that was to tell Naruto Ōtsutsuki everything, and ask for his help. It sounded straightforward, but there were many risks. Risks, he could not take as the leader of ‘The Heaven Faction’.

“For now, we will just monitor Naruto Ōtsutsuki’s movement; nothing more, nothing less.”

He needed a second opinion. And he knew who he should go to.

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X

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Unknown location

“You took your time.”

Rizevim stopped walking and looked to the side to see his brother leaning on the wall. The hideout was still a few good kilometers away. It seemed his brother was more restless about this than he initially thought. He turned toward him, and once again, he couldn’t help but notice the similarities his little brother had with their father. Well, the thing was, he only looked like him since his attitude was very different.

“Sorry for the delay Solomon, but Zekram was out like a hound,” Rizevim answered with a soft-hearted chuckle.

“That rotting old man is predictable.”

“Yes, he is. But considering everything I did, I assumed it was safer to go into hiding for a few days.”

Solomon just nodded at his words and then looked at who was behind him.

“Is it her?”

Rizevim turned around to see the young Nekoshou, who was following him. Her eyes were still glassy and unfocused. Maybe he used too much of the ‘Power of Corruption’ on her? Well, it did not matter as long as her body and power were untouched.

Solomon walked toward her and took a good look at her with his only good eye since his other eye was covered with an eye patch. According to him, his other eye suffered a severe injury in a fight. But Rizevim never bought it. After all, he knew Solomon was stronger than him, even though his little brother would always try to hide that fact.

“Yes, it does seem like she possesses the ‘Dragon Taming’ ability.” Solomon nodded his head in satisfaction.

“As if there were any doubts,” Rizevim said, finally a bit of sarcasm coming out. But he did wonder, for some time now, how Solomon could tell who had what abilities without even touching them.

Solomon did not say anything and just extended his hand. With a sigh, Rizevim gave him the rope that was connected to the collar the Nekoshou girl was wearing. Rizevim knew that the girl’s mind was corrupted to the point that she would never run away, but just to be safe he took some necessary measures.

“How many dragon-taming maidens have we got so far?”

“Not enough,” was the short reply he got from Solomon. He could not help but sigh when he saw Solomon creating a teleportation spell and leaving with the girl.

Unlike most of the Four Great Satans' kin, Rizevim did not have much interest in seeking revenge against the Underworld or the current Four Great Satans. He also did not have any interest in the world domination that his father and the other original Satans and their descendants had desired. But that all changed when Lilith, his mother and the only person whom he truly respected, told him that he had a brother. Of course, at first, he thought that his mother died but it turned out she was hiding until she safely gave birth to Solomon.

It was not Lilith who approached him but Solomon around two hundred years ago. Like him, he did not have any interest in ruling the underworld. But when Solomon told him about the truth regarding Trihexa and the Biblical God, for the first time in his life, he was filled with ambitions and dreams. And also, the fact that he finally found a devil, who understood him somewhat, was quite entertaining.

“But still,” Rizevim massaged his beard, “We already have four dragon-taming maidens. Exactly how many do we need to summon the third ‘Heavenly Dragon’?”

Then his focus turned toward the untouched report Euclid delivered, which was in his pocket. He took out the report and started reading it. It was short and on point. But the content was quite upsetting. To think that the outcome of the dispute would be completely out of his calculations, it seemed the Avalon Kingdom was more troublesome than he thought.

“Tch~ I wish I could have some rounds with this Avalon Kingdom. They seem quite unpredictable,” Rizevim chuckled, “Unfortunately, the Nekoshou Massacre turned into a much messier incident than I thought. It is better to go underground until the fire dies down.”